This invention relates in general to computer user interfaces and more specifically to a method for automatically routing and displaying connections between nodes in a network topology displayed on a computer user interface.
Computer graphics has become an important application for computer systems. The ability to clearly and effectively display information in a graphical form has spawned many useful computer programs such as for computer-assisted drawing (CAD), electronic and microelectronic circuit layout, network topology display and network management, etc.
Although there are many applications that effectively use computer graphics to provide an efficient user interface, problems arise due to the ever-increasing complexity and density of the information to be displayed. For example, today's networks have many components, or nodes, including servers, disk arrays, routers, hubs, switches, clients, etc. Each node may have several, or many, connections to other nodes. Generally, interfaces for network topology management analysis and configuration allow a human user to specify types of devices (i.e., nodes) to be used in the system; and to designate interconnections between the devices. A human user is usually relieved from routing connections between and among nodes in the interface, as the routing process is automated.
An interface, or automated system, computes a routing for connections so that connections are routed and displayed without intersecting unwanted nodes. However, while it is desirable for a system to automatically perform routing and display of connections in a network topology application it is often difficult to achieve efficient, organized and aesthetically pleasing routing, especially in “real time.” This is especially true where the number of nodes and connections is relatively large. Also, modern systems typically allow a user to “drag and drop” nodes on the screen, add and delete nodes, connections, etc. This, naturally, changes the relative positions of nodes and often requires that routing of many interconnections must be quickly recomputed.
Thus, it is desirable to provide an invention that improves upon one or more of the shortcomings of the prior art.